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**Wilber Winterbottom** · #1 (**permalink**) 12-27-2022, 12:45 AM

Image Credit: Charely Potter

The Topiary Garden is home to creatures both magical and mundane. From Hippogriffs to rabbits and everything in between, these figures have been trimmed from specially selected plants to provide a relaxing environment for you.

Take a seat on the grass or perhaps on one of the polished, wooden benches and inhale the crisp freshness of the air. More often than not, you may find yourself being distracted by a topiary as it waves to you or it randomly scratched its nose. Once in a while, they may even resort to performing a small hilarious act if they are not receiving enough attention. Professor Khanna asks that you refrain from interacting roughly with the topiaries. None would want a broken wing or a twisted paw.

OOC: The topiaries are charmed to move about, however their actions wouldn’t be anything over the top. There will be no attacking the students and professors or dragons breathing fire. You are free to RP for the topiaries as well as to decide what sort of creatures live in the garden!

sweetpinkpixie · 06-01-2026, 11:43 PM

The initial message he had enchanted to appear between the bristles of her broom ― the one place he had confidence she would pay attention to ― had been brief. Suspiciously so, perhaps. Just a summons to the topiary garden to discuss concerns about her recent behavior along with a date, time, and location. No direct inquiry into why she had been skipping lessons or nearly broken a boy's nose with a goblet, though the weight of such things was carried in the flourish of ink on the parchment.

The Gryffindor's reply had arrived sometime later carrying all the emotional transparency of a reinforced vault door. To which Professor Cox had responded with another note.

No words this time. A map. A painstakingly detailed map that allowed no room for error.

One entire sheet of parchment dedicated solely to charting the route from Gryffindor Tower to the Topiary Garden. Every staircase labeled. Every turn annotated. A helpful arrow indicating YOU ARE HERE beside the tower. Estimated travel time included. Two alternative routes provided in the event of moving staircases. Landmarks carefully marked along the way. At the bottom, beneath a final arrow pointing directly at the garden, he had written: Saturday, 10:00 AM.

Underlined twice.

He, however, had arrived by 9:30 to set things up.

Several wooden crates had been arranged along the edge of the Topiary Garden, each overflowing with mature Puffapods swollen to the point of splitting. Canvas sheets had been stretched across sections of grass nearby. Collection bins waited beside them. Several large circular targets had been erected between the topiary figures at varying distances, painted with concentric scoring rings more commonly associated with a Quidditch training exercise than school discipline.

And there he waited, leaning against the crates with his arms folded across his chest and eye fixated on the entrance to the Topiary Garden.

*Samia* · 06-04-2026, 06:21 PM

The first note had received a reply. A perfectly reasonable reply, in Marina's opinion. She had informed Professor Cox that she was fine, thanked him for his concern, and assured him there was absolutely no need for a meeting. Which should have been the end of it.

A responsible adult would have accepted that. Or at least pretended to. Instead, several days later, a second parchment had arrived.

A map. An outrageously detailed, painstakingly labeled, impossible-to-misinterpret map. Every staircase marked. Every turn annotated. Alternative routes included. Estimated travel times provided. The destination underlined twice.

Marina had unfolded it and immediately understood Professor Cox was not in the mood to let this go. She had spent the last week quietly hoping the matter would dissolve on its own. Avoidance had always seemed like a perfectly respectable strategy. Not foolproof, perhaps. But respectable. She had certainly committed to it. Corridors were rerouted. Entire hallways abandoned. More than once she had spotted Professor Cox in the distance and abruptly remembered an urgent need to be literally anywhere else.

But... maps like that weren't sent by people who were going to forget.

So now she was here. Which, frankly, felt like an accomplishment all by itself. By the time she reached the entrance to the Topiary Garden, her nerves had already worked themselves into a tangled knot somewhere beneath her ribs. She wasn't entirely sure what Professor Cox wanted from her. Well. That wasn't true.

She knew exactly what he wanted.

Explanations.

Reasons.

Answers.

Things she didn't actually have.

Skipping classes had been easier than explaining why she couldn't make herself walk into them. Throwing a goblet at the gryffidor troll had been easier than explaining why hearing her name twisted wrong for the hundredth time had somehow felt like the final crack in something that had already been splintering for months.

Neither of those facts felt particularly impressive now.

Marina stepped through the entrance and immediately stopped. The sight before her was so unexpected that it managed to shove her anxiety aside for a full three seconds.

An entire setup that looked suspiciously like someone had combined detention, gardening, and Quidditch practice into one deeply concerning activity. Her gaze bounced from the targets to the crates.

Then to Professor Cox.

Then back again.

For a moment she simply stared.

"...what is all this?"

The question escaped before she could stop it. Curiosity won the battle. Briefly.

Then she remembered she was supposed to be nervous. And that this was Professor Cox. And that she had spent ...quite some time now avoiding him. The realization settled back onto her shoulders immediately.

Still, Marina was Marina. Which meant the anxiety had to come out sideways. Her arms folded tightly across her chest. "Also," she informed him, because apparently this was the important thing to address first, "the map was unnecessary."

"The second route was objectively worse. And the estimated travel times felt a little passive-aggressive." The corner of her mouth twitched despite herself. Only slightly. Her eyes drifted back toward the targets again. Then Professor Cox. And for the first time since arriving, some of her bravado slipped.

Just a little.

Enough for the uncertainty underneath to show. "Am I in trouble?" The question came out quieter than everything else. Not because she didn't know the answer. But because suddenly she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to hear it.

sweetpinkpixie · 06-05-2026, 10:46 AM

A long silence followed her inquiry, one that suggested he was evaluating several possible responses and discarding most of them on principle. Her observations, he decided, did not dignify any sort of acknowledgement.

His arms remained folded as he pushed away from the crates.

"I was informed you recently demonstrated considerable enthusiasm for throwing things when frustrated." He gestured toward the puffapods, the targets, and the collection bins with one hand. "I thought it prudent to redirect that talent toward something... less likely to require a visit to the Hospital Wing. Professor Feirgrund was, likewise, inclined to agree with the assessment."

The corner of his mouth threatened the faintest twitch before disappearing again.

"You're going to throw puffapods at those targets. Repeatedly." Only then did he address the quieter question, something in his posture shifted subtly.

"Ma ― Miss García Massey. You have been skipping lessons. You threw a goblet at another student with enough force to nearly break his nose. Those are not particularly brilliant decisions, wouldn't you agree?" His gaze drifted briefly toward one of the topiary hippogriffs before returning to her. "But if this were merely about punishment, I would have assigned you writing lines over and over and over again, as I did your peer, and gone back to grading essays."

A low breath escaped him, fingers flexing as an uncomfortable burn began flowing through his veins and pooling in very specific sigils across his skin.

"You had already spent several weeks demonstrating that avoidance is your chosen coping mechanism. You are not here because I, specifically, am angry with you."

His jaw shifted once, the muscle ticking briefly beneath the skin before settling again. One hand came up to rub at the back of his neck, fingers lingering there for a moment as though attempting to work tension from muscles that had no intention of cooperating. A slow sigh left after, heavier than the conversation perhaps warranted. It broadened his chest beneath the dark fabric of his robes and lifted his shoulders before they settled again.

"You are here because something is amiss."

Only then did his eyes return to hers.

They narrowed slightly — not in irritation, but in the weary way of a man already anticipating the argument before it had been made. Because Gryffindors, in his experience, simply could not help themselves under these sort of circumstances.

"And before you tell me that nothing is wrong, allow me to remind you that have developed a reasonably advanced understanding of when someone is attempting to feed me complete nonsense."

Finally he nodded toward the nearest crate.

"So. You may either begin throwing puffapods at targets while we talk. Or you may begin throwing Puffapods at targets while refusing to talk."

A shoulder lifted in a small shrug.

"Either way, you are throwing puffapods at targets."

*Samia* · 06-13-2026, 03:47 PM

For a moment, Marina considered pretending she hadn't heard any of that. It was an appealing option.

Unfortunately, Professor Cox had always possessed the deeply inconvenient habit of continuing to see right through her when she wished he wouldn't.

So her gaze drifted immediately toward the puffapods instead. Not because they were particularly fascinating. They weren't. They looked vaguely ridiculous sitting there in their crates, swollen and overripe and waiting to burst. But looking at them was considerably easier than looking directly at him.

The problem was that every time she tried, her brain supplied a completely different memory instead.

The End of Term Feast.

The whistle.

The scolding he'd given her afterwards.

Objectively, it had not even been one of the more serious reprimands she had received in her life. She knew that. Rationally. Unfortunately, rationality had very little influence over the part of her brain that still wanted to crawl under a table whenever she remembered it.

So she climbed onto the nearest crate instead, reaching down to grab a puffapod and weighing it thoughtfully in her hands. "In my defense," she said at last, studying the pod with exaggerated concentration, "his nose did survive."

Then she hurled it.

POP.

Pink beans exploded across the outer ring of the target. "Also in my defense," she added, reaching for another, "he kept saying my name wrong even when I asked him to not do that."

A second throw followed.

POP.

Closer this time. The silence stretched. Professor Cox was very good at silence. Marina hated that. The next puffapod rolled between her palms while she stared fixedly at the target.

Anywhere except him.

"And I wasn't avoiding lessons." The lie sat between them for approximately half a second. She sighed. "Okay, I was avoiding lessons."

Another throw.

POP.

"But I wasn't trying to be difficult." The words came quieter. Because she hadn't been. At least not on purpose. Her fingers tightened around another puffapod and she risked a glance toward him then. It was a mistake, so she immediately looked back at the targets.

"I know most of my decisions lately have been a little stupid. But I am working on it though"

sweetpinkpixie · 06-17-2026, 05:19 AM

He remained where he stood beside a unicorn topiary, one shoulder angled lightly against the foliage. His arms were folded in more of a resting posture across his chest than a barrier.

The first puffapod burst drew only the smallest shift in his attention — eyes tracking the trajectory, the impact, the scattering of colour across the target ring.Emotional discharge translated into a measurable outcome. He nodded, his gaze returning to the Gryffindor while he remained a silent observer. He watched her climb unnecessarily onto the crate without correction, watched how she chose not to look at him when speaking, watched the slack in her shoulders when she admitted she had been avoiding lessons.

The faintest exhale passed through his nose in acknowledgement of something already accounted for in his assessment. Only when she hesitated did he move, slowly pushing off the topiary and ignoring its attempt to nuzzle his shoulder, close enough that she could no longer pretend she was speaking into open space rather than to someone who would actually hear her.

His eyes flicked briefly to the next puffapod in her hand, then back to her face.

"Continue," he nodded. "You are not required to edit yourself for my benefit."

He bent to inspect a bit of bush that had begun to creep beyond its marker stones, pinching away a yellowing leaf with practiced fingers. The silence stretched comfortably between them, at least as far as he was concerned. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her roll the next puffapod in her hand, turning it over and over as though weighing whether to squeeze it.

"Mr. Miller's error in judgment is being dealt with," he continued. "I would hazard that he is now somewhere around inch 13 of a 300 inch penance involving correct orthography."

He straightened and brushed a trace of soil from his sleeve before moving on.

"What I am trying to understand," he continued, pausing beside a lion whose mane was due for trimming, "is what you were avoiding. Because I refuse to believe it was simply a matter of name mispronunciation..."

He rested a hand against the cool hedge, studying her expression rather than the topiary.

Granger Danger · 06-30-2026, 02:18 PM

Okay... so he been around Hogwarts for a whole two years now if you count this year and last year, but Rhys never really seen the whole area of the school nor did he really pay attention. Sure he might've seen it when Yami gave him the tour last term, but it was still hard for him to remember all the places. Walking around, he seen the topiary gardens and stopped and looked at the weird animals and shapes. " What's so special about these things? Look pretty ordinary to me, like what's so special about a bunch of trees that look like animals?" Why in the Phoenix feathers did Joey say it was his favorite place for? Looks kinda boring in his opinion.

Seeing the lion that looks like the Gryffindor crest growl at him for his comments he shrugged and lifted his hands in surrender. "Hey! I didn't know you guys did all this movements and stuff I never been here so don't growl at me you oversized kitten!" Although some say it was rude, it wasn't for it was more playful and teasing. Laughing he looked around the garden area some more "Okay...now I can see why Joey likes it here, it's pretty cool now I know they move and stuff.. Watching two seals with a ball bounce it back and forth with their noses he let out a laugh.

Kolyander · 06-30-2026, 07:15 PM

Over the years, Amph had been ALL over the castle and grounds getting to know each space as it grew and changed. While plants were number one on her list of favorites, she did know a great deal about them thanks to her family, namely her parents as well as some of her besties. Creatures on the other hand, now they ranked up there very close to sports. Her love of creatures had been ingrained within her soul before she had even physically made her appearance on earth.

Granted the topiary garden didn't exactly house a great deal of l the creatures she had grown up around, it still held 'creatures' within its own right. These 'plants' could move. They could roar and growl. Happy chatter could be made. Creatures, not creatures. Who was she to decide? Plus, the hippogriffs, rabbits and other living creatures that moved about in here were lovely to be around. All that really mattered was the entire area was extremely well maintained and thriving. A sense of calm washed over her simply by stepping foot into the gardens.

Senseless wandering was a thing for her in here, wherever her feet took her and her body told her to sit was where she ended up. Sometimes it was a random hill over looking all the topairys move around. Other times a bench was her spot while she relaxed and kept an eye on the hippogriffs waiting to see if any would dare to come near her on its own. Today, well her feet traveled at a steady pace going nowhere in particular and only coming to a stop when she heard a voice she'd come to know rather well. Deep bright eyes scanned where she was before quickly falling upon him. "That kitten can kick your behind and I just might let it," Amph commented, a cheeky tone matching the cheeky grin on her face. "There are creatures in here as well you know. Want to see?" Her steady footsteps resumed as she took up her place at his side, bumping him lightly in more of a proper Amph greeting.

Granger Danger · 06-30-2026, 11:11 PM

Hearing a familiar voice he knows all too well, he smirked to himself before turning and looking at her. Rolling his eyes playfully he shook his head. "Oh please, we all know you don't like seeing me hurt." Giving her a kiss on the cheek he smiled at her. "So how are you feeling? No headaches or anything lately?" He knew she told him not to worry but that was something he just couldn't do, not when he cared about her deeply.

Looking around in awe, he looked back at her. "Was looking for the hippogriff Joey said that was here, haven't seen it yet." Looking at her he smiled and winked. "Then lets go pay our hippogriff friend a visit hm? Do wr have to bow to it like a normal one?" He didn't know, after all it was a hippogriff but a tree...

Kolyander · 07-01-2026, 02:17 PM

Ha! Amph gave a clearly playful scoff. ”Mm, I think you've got that backwards and it's YOU that doesn't like seeing ME hurt.” The teasing was there as per usual but let it be known that what he had said was true. As was what she had said. Neither of them liked seeing the other hurt. It came with the territory though. Accidents happened. Ah, there it was. The question that always came right away. ”Not today. All's good.” Nothing to worry about right then. She couldn't speak for how she might feel later on in the day but she had slept well, had breakfast and was feeling alright.

A slight smile tugged at her lips at the mention of the Hippogriff. ”Oh, you best bow to him cause if he decides he doesn't like you for being rude… well that's on you.” She wouldn't be harming any Hippogriffs cause Rhys forgot his manners. ”You do know that I'm speaking of a true living, breathing, can easily take you down, Hippogriff, right?” Not a large topiary or something of the sort.

Amph was more than happy to lead the search for the feathered griff. ”Don't know for sure… but I usually come across him down this way…” Veering to the left of one of the paths, the sixth year made a quick grab at Rhys hand to tug him alongside herself more easily.

*Samia* · 07-05-2026, 07:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

He remained where he stood beside a unicorn topiary, one shoulder angled lightly against the foliage. His arms were folded in more of a resting posture across his chest than a barrier.

The first puffapod burst drew only the smallest shift in his attention — eyes tracking the trajectory, the impact, the scattering of colour across the target ring.Emotional discharge translated into a measurable outcome. He nodded, his gaze returning to the Gryffindor while he remained a silent observer. He watched her climb unnecessarily onto the crate without correction, watched how she chose not to look at him when speaking, watched the slack in her shoulders when she admitted she had been avoiding lessons.

The faintest exhale passed through his nose in acknowledgement of something already accounted for in his assessment. Only when she hesitated did he move, slowly pushing off the topiary and ignoring its attempt to nuzzle his shoulder, close enough that she could no longer pretend she was speaking into open space rather than to someone who would actually hear her.

His eyes flicked briefly to the next puffapod in her hand, then back to her face.

"Continue," he nodded. "You are not required to edit yourself for my benefit."

He bent to inspect a bit of bush that had begun to creep beyond its marker stones, pinching away a yellowing leaf with practiced fingers. The silence stretched comfortably between them, at least as far as he was concerned. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her roll the next puffapod in her hand, turning it over and over as though weighing whether to squeeze it.

"Mr. Miller's error in judgment is being dealt with," he continued. "I would hazard that he is now somewhere around inch 13 of a 300 inch penance involving correct orthography."

He straightened and brushed a trace of soil from his sleeve before moving on.

"What I am trying to understand," he continued, pausing beside a lion whose mane was due for trimming, "is what you were avoiding. Because I refuse to believe it was simply a matter of name mispronunciation..."

He rested a hand against the cool hedge, studying her expression rather than the topiary.

Marina's fingers slowed around the puffapod. She did not continue immediately. Not because she was refusing to. Because she genuinely did not know how. The silence stretched while she turned the swollen pod over between her palms, tracing its ridges with her thumb as though the answer might somehow be hidden there. Finally, she drew her arm back and threw it.

Pop.

The burst of pink beans against the target felt strangely satisfying. She watched them scatter, somehow still finding it easier than looking at him. There was something instinctive about it now. Ever since the End of Term Feast, ever since she'd whistled and he'd looked at her with that sharp, disappointed sort of authority, meeting his eyes had felt... difficult. Like she was about to be told she'd done something wrong all over again.

She hated that her brain kept doing that.

His comment about CJ tugged unexpectedly at the corner of her mouth. "...Three hundred inches?" The words escaped before she could stop them. A faint, fleeting smile escaped her. "He'll probably still misspell something."

The smile then disappeared almost as quickly as it'd arrived. She reached for another puffapod, but instead of throwing it, she simply rolled it back and forth between both hands.

"I don't think I was avoiding one thing." Her voice had dropped considerably. "I just sort of... started avoiding everything." That sounded horribly dramatic -- but her life was being incredibly dramatic right now. Her fingers tightened around the pod. "...when the feast happened," she eventually started, "I know you weren't trying to embarrass me." She hurried to add it before he could misunderstand.

"I know that. You were right. I shouldn't have whistled. But afterwards..." She swallowed. "...I couldn't stop thinking about it." The admission made her cheeks warm. "I kept thinking that every time you looked at me after that, you'd remember that first."

The loud Gryffindor. The one who whistled at professors. The one who threw goblets. "I know that's probably not even true." She laughed once, awkwardly - defensively. "But my brain sort of... decided it was."

"And then everything just ... spiralled because of that" She shook her head faintly, not sure how much she wanted to reveal everything she felt at home lately - especially when it was obvious Professor Cox knew her mum - the photo she had found in one of mum's drawers spoke volumes too.

She finally threw the second puffapod. It struck the outer ring before exploding in another spray of pink.

"When CJ happened..." This time she sighed. "I don't think he made me angry." The realization settled strangely in her chest. "I think...I was already angry."

Not even angry. Something bigger. Something heavier.

"He just happened to be the person standing in front of me when it finally... overflowed." Her shoulders rose in a helpless shrug. "The name wasn't really about the name anymore."

For the first time since she'd arrived, Marina looked at Professor Cox. Only for a heartbeat. Long enough to force herself through it.

"I think if anyone else had kept poking at me that night..." Her voice almost disappeared. "...I probably would've thrown the goblet at them instead."

Granger Danger · 07-08-2026, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kolyander

Ha! Amph gave a clearly playful scoff. ”Mm, I think you've got that backwards and it's YOU that doesn't like seeing ME hurt.” The teasing was there as per usual but let it be known that what he had said was true. As was what she had said. Neither of them liked seeing the other hurt. It came with the territory though. Accidents happened. Ah, there it was. The question that always came right away. ”Not today. All's good.” Nothing to worry about right then. She couldn't speak for how she might feel later on in the day but she had slept well, had breakfast and was feeling alright.

A slight smile tugged at her lips at the mention of the Hippogriff. ”Oh, you best bow to him cause if he decides he doesn't like you for being rude… well that's on you.” She wouldn't be harming any Hippogriffs cause Rhys forgot his manners. ”You do know that I'm speaking of a true living, breathing, can easily take you down, Hippogriff, right?” Not a large topiary or something of the sort.

Amph was more than happy to lead the search for the feathered griff. ”Don't know for sure… but I usually come across him down this way…” Veering to the left of one of the paths, the sixth year made a quick grab at Rhys hand to tug him alongside herself more easily.

Rhys with his his arms crossed lifted his eye brow smirking. "Mmm... so if I were to cut myself right now on a tree branch you wouldn't care hm? I beg to differ love..." He knew she didn't like seeing him hurt as much as he did with her, their teasing was a way to show each other that they cared deeply for one another. Seeing all was good he sighed in relief and kissed her forehead. "I'm glad those potions are working, you been so sick so I was getting worried." He knew it could change, but as of right now it was good so he wasn't worried about his girlfriend right at the moment.

He nodded, he was going to be respectful anyways, after all he was in their territory so it only made sense. "Oh so it's a real Hippogriff not one of the creatures from around here?" Oh...now that made sense, he was thinking it was one of creatures from around here. Yeah... he definitely was going to bow to it now, he wasn't going to get kicked or anything worse for that matter, he wasn't stupid.

Letting her guide him, he looked around as well for thr Hippogriff knowing that there was no way they were going to miss something so big and majestic. Biting his lip he kept quiet cause he knew Hippogriffs didn't like to be snuck up on without being seen and respected.

Kolyander · 07-08-2026, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Granger Danger

Rhys with his his arms crossed lifted his eye brow smirking. "Mmm... so if I were to cut myself right now on a tree branch you wouldn't care hm? I beg to differ love..." He knew she didn't like seeing him hurt as much as he did with her, their teasing was a way to show each other that they cared deeply for one another. Seeing all was good he sighed in relief and kissed her forehead. "I'm glad those potions are working, you been so sick so I was getting worried." He knew it could change, but as of right now it was good so he wasn't worried about his girlfriend right at the moment.

He nodded, he was going to be respectful anyways, after all he was in their territory so it only made sense. "Oh so it's a real Hippogriff not one of the creatures from around here?" Oh...now that made sense, he was thinking it was one of creatures from around here. Yeah... he definitely was going to bow to it now, he wasn't going to get kicked or anything worse for that matter, he wasn't stupid.

Letting her guide him, he looked around as well for thr Hippogriff knowing that there was no way they were going to miss something so big and majestic. Biting his lip he kept quiet cause he knew Hippogriffs didn't like to be snuck up on without being seen and respected.

The smirk not the eye raise threw her off of her game. Amph continued to grin, lifting a shoulder slightly in the form of a shrug. "Welp, that would depend. Did you get hurt by accident or were you doing something stupid that caused the branch to whatever to retaliate?" The answer was somewhat important and it would decide the best course for the appropriate reaction from her. Oi, he was lucky that she actually understood the reasoning behind his constant questioning lately. "Right now, yeah. There's nothing to worry about." The potions were doing exactly what they were meant to do, make her feel better.

Now there's that good thinking from him! Unlike herself where she tended to think about things AFTER she did them. Amph blinked at the question. "Erm yes? There's real ones that sometime through here from the barns and such but .. there's also a topiary one too if you want to see that one?" The real one however they could interact with much more as long as they continued to show it respect.

Her grin turned cheeky as she lead Rhys around the garden. As they searched for the living, breathing, feathery Hippogriff she made a point of showing Rhy other random things. Such as different plants and flowers, small birds, grazing bunnies and a few butterflies. Not to mention every topairy they came across was greeted warmly. Now, where were the hippogriffs? She was sure at least one had to be somewhere around here.

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